Monthly Archives: December 2013

We had a white Christmas here in Seattle and our Christmas break from school started a day early with a snow day! It was nice to get an extra day off from the rigors of every day teaching. I do enjoy school and all my students, but it is nice to have time off as well, especially around the holidays. It has been so relaxing, just spending time with family, golfing, enjoying the weather, the season and the magic of this time of year.

So we took a ferry over the sound, went through the dense woods and out to Grandmother’s house in the secluded forest. It was a fun road trip. The New Year trip we take should be fun as well. Happy Holidays everyone!

Sometimes in life we are unable to see what’s ahead, as the mist and fog obscure our vision. We don’t know what to expect. We can’t see all ends. Yet we take the leap, in faith, knowing that even though we can’t always see where we are going, we are on the right path, headed in the right direction and will ultimately end up in the right place at the right time.

This was made manifestly apparent to me again recently. I was playing golf just this week and I was on the 15th hole at the course where I am a member. I started off with a perfect drive, a nice, long, straight tee shot. But when I got to where my ball landed in the fairway for my second shot, I looked down into the dell where the green was and saw nothing but impenetrable mist! I selected a club I believed was right and hit it as straight as I could to where I though the pin to be. My ball disappeared into the fog. When I walked down to the green, I found my shot had rolled up onto the green and was only several feet away from the hole! I made the putt for an eagle!

When you can’t see the end, the goal, or where the destination might lead, but you know you are going in the right direction, take a leap of faith. You will end up in the right spot!

One of my colleagues and fellow teachers called me a genius today! I helped a student with science, then answered an Pre-Calculus question, then assisted another student with English vocab and writing a short story. After that, any time any student had another question, she told them to just ask me because I am “a genius!” It’s great to know that I am being observed, acknowledged and given the credit I deserve every once in a while. It makes me feel that not only am I doing a good job but also making a difference!

And the other day, a student I helped with their resume got the job! I am so proud of her! I also had a student from years past come and visit me. Not only did he remember the lessons I taught him, but he is doing well now on his own and in his job. It is great to get those affirmations!

With temperature in the teens where I live in Seattle, there is white frost and ice everywhere this past week. And the sky is so clear and cold at night that the stars glint like silver needles. Nature is adorned in this winter wonderland with an assortment of ice and frost art, all over nature, and everywhere I turn. Here are a few examples of some of arts wintry, icy art.

And in this season, when it is so cold, it’s fun to make comfort food. Comfort food for me is food that is warm, heavy, cheesy, filling, fun to make and fun to eat. This week we made three layer cheesy mac with garlic toast crumbles and bacon. It was fun to make and it tasted great, especially on a really cold night where we just wanted to stay warm. Enjoy!

I went for a tour of a Grand Lodge, that had once been a Masonic Temple. I have always been interested and fascinated by the Masons, dating back to my love of the Templars and Hospitallers. Medieval history and the Orders of Knights has been a passion of mine since I started writing novels as a teen-ager. This Lodge also had a soaking pool, down, of course, in the dungeon. And it was there I met a ghost.

From the Lodge I proceeded on to tour many vineyards, drew draughts from the many caves and dungeons where the casks (not Amontillado, thankfully!) were stored. I drank much wine, feasted, and rose again as if from the dead to high towers. It was a haunting but memorable adventure!